It’s been a while since the liquidation of A Borland & Co (Glaziers) Ltd, which traded as Hurry Brothers, and its subsidiary Hurry Brothers Ltd, which traded as Borglas, was announced, with the loss of almost 50 jobs from a firm that had been trading since 1955, when it was established by Alex Borland. Reports say the company employed some 120 people at its peak during the late 1990s, and was providing emergency glazing and boarding services in the Glasgow area. The sight of the company’s name stamped on its wooden shuttering was a common sight where large glass windows had been smashed, on shops and similar.

I was reminded of the story as I wandered along London Road recently, and spotted their former premises at 2117, still with its large sign and billboard out front.

I had been in there, albeit quite a few years ago, when I was trying to match some patterned glass to replace a panel in a set of small stained glass windows at the front of my house. Some scum had been walking along the road, and thrown a beer bottle – probably not actually intended for my window, but as part of a drunken fight. Although I live in an area of mature adults, we often get the rubbish from nearby because our streets are quieter and see less regular police patrols. Remarkably, the bottle passed through a panel little wider than itself and did not touch the lead channels holding the glass. And, luckily, there was no-one in the room at the time, although the bottle and glass were largely stopped by the curtain draped to the side – it came through the window just a few inches above head height, spraying small shards of glass throughout the room.

Of course, in the time it took to get to the door and look out into the street… it was deserted.

I couldn’t get a small piece of glass that was in any way similar in any of the small glaziers nearby, but when I tried Hurry, even though the piece of glass was only about 20 x 7 cm, the staff was happy to spend ages digging through offcuts to see how close they could get to the original.

I now need another piece of that glass, after the same sort of scum decided to have a stone fight in the street, using stone chips from a neighbour’s drive, which took out the same panel in another window – but I can’t go back to Hurry, so I’m not expecting to fix this one any time soon.

I had a look at the former Borglas works too, which was in Quay Road, Rutherglen, but this already seems to be derelict, and just an anonymous building.

I was in there, even more years ago, and the visit was quite a surprise. One of the things my company specialised in was temperature control equipment, and we got a call to go to Borglas to sort out some errant temperature control gear on a furnace. I took an engineer to evaluate the job, and was surprised to see the works was manufacturing many varieties of laminated and tempered glass, and on a large scale too, as the panels had sides measured in metres, and were being produced in various styles, many being destined for massive glass shop fronts, but I gathered they also manufactured to order for architectural uses.

Their web site stated:

Our family owned business has provided an efficient Emergency Glazing Service since 1955. This has beeen (sic) expanded to include a Specialist Glass Installation service including Shopfronts, Shower Enclosures, Balustrades, Glass Stairs, Glass Floor Panels, Glass Worktops and Splashbacks.

It’s a shame how trading circumstances can bring down a business that looks outwardly as if it should be able to continue, but having once fallen victim to something similar, it doesn’t surprise me as much as is it might have in the past.

Yes it’s up and running by son Barry, his wife Lorraine & her mother Liz.
I just spent approx £1500 on goods. They were charming and helpful when I was buying. However there was a problem with one item. Then it was a different matter. They turned nasty and rude. I have been buying from H.B. For 20 years. Was NEVER treated like that when the father Alex was in charge. Very sad

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Secret Scotland aims to provide a common resource where secret, hidden or otherwise notable Points of Interest around Scotland may be recorded and shared, and is modelled after the class-leading Wikipedia format.

By secret or hidden, we’re really just referring to anything that might be described as lost, unknown, uninvestigated, unexplained, undiscovered, unexplored, forgotten, undisclosed, underground, subterranean, camouflaged, disguised, suppressed, or similar. In simple terms, it could just be something (or somewhere) that’s just a bit out of the ordinary, and might not be noticed if not highlighted. As inspiration, these are a few of the existing Categories: